A Dream Come True for my Friend

My friend just opened a studio called HeARTfelt Create.  Her goal is to encourage people to be more creative.  Her studio is open 2 evenings a week and on Sunday to allow people to join together in making art.  Customers can either pick from projects she has available or they can work on their own projects.  She also has a gallery of artists’ work on display as inspiration. Check out her website here.

I am so proud of my friend for following her dream of opening a studio.  I hope that HeARTfelt Create will be a great success.

- christina

A Surprise for Me!

My BFF is the best!  When I visited her in August, she surprised me with a trip to a scrapbooking store where we were enrolled in a half-day art class.  She didn’t tell me anything about the class in advance. I just walked into the store to discover …

… the class was being taught by Dina Wakley!  I love Dina Wakley!  She is a mixed-media artist whom I have followed online for a few years.  The class was focused on using animals in your art journaling, which is not really my thing, but I was happy just to be working with Dina. 

 

Don't you love Dina?!?

Dina grabbed my phone and took a ton of selflies
with me and my BFF.

Here is a sample project from the class.  We took a photo of an animal, painted over it, and then embellished the piece with crayons and a Stabilo pencil.

 

In the beginning, there was a fox.

In the end, he was painted and embellished.
Now he looks cool.

My BFF chose a pig instead of a fox.

When I got home, I invited 2 friends over and showed them another technique that Dina taught.  We started by gluing parts of book pages on a sheet, then followed up with stencils and stamps.  Finally we decided on the shape for the focal point and painted out the rest of the page.

I loved sharing art with my friends and look forward to doing it again soon.

- christina

Where did the summer go?

School started this week, so I am back to work.  Just like the kids, it's challenging for me to get back into the routine of waking up early and going to school.

Me and my BFF
having fun as always!

So, where did the summer go?  Mine ended with a trip to Florida to see my BFF.

She and her husband took me to Key West and it was wonderful.  Hot, but wonderful.

Most people have seen tons of classic photos of Key West (cute houses, weird people, sunsets).  These are my photos - pictures of signs.  

- christina

I Don't Like Ink

Back in June, I completed my third round of Drawing Fundamentals at the local art league.  The semester was all about drawing in ink.  I had the same teacher as the previous 2 classes, which covered pencil and charcoal drawing.  I made an important discovery – I don’t like ink.

My ink value study

Ink involves a commitment – more than I want to make.  I can’t erase ink; I can only make it darker.  Darker is something I am not very good at.  I like to smudge and erase, add and then take away, but that’s not possible with ink. 

It's a pinecone. Can you tell?

Our assignment was to do a landscape.
I got frustrated and lost interest.
Too many flowers.

This is supposed to be Denzel Washington.
I messed up the other eye hence the framing.

Next session I’m going back to charcoal and pencil.  I feel the need to smudge.

- christina

Medellin, Colombia

Medellin is not a city that I have been dying to visit.  However, the opportunity presented itself this summer because I have a friend who has a friend who lives there.  It seemed to me that going to Colombia would be an adventure - unknown and possibly a little risky.  Medellin turned out to be a beautiful city, where I learned an interesting history lesson about Pablo Escobar and was introduced to the artist Fernando Botero.  My trip was a half city/half country adventure.

Hotel Charlee is in a very posh, but loud, part of the city.

The view from my hotel room's balcony.

The stairwell on each floor had a unique mural.

Street Art:

After a few days in the city, I visited a "finca" (literally, it means property but I would call this one a "country house").  It was a beautiful home and provided a relaxing few days.

The driveway of the finca.

The amazing backyard.

Just in case you ever meet a native of Medellin, they pronounce the name Med-a-jean.  The "ll" makes a j-sound: like a hard j with a little buzz added to it.  Say it that way and you will make a good impression.

I hope you are enjoying your summer trips.  Personally I wish summer would last at least another month.  Hey, a girl can dream.

Me and my new friend, Lucy, enjoying summer
vacation at the finca.

- christina

Inspirational Banana

Inspiration and support can be found in unlikely places.  This banana was waiting for me at the Hampton Inn in Clarion, Pennsylvania.  It put a smile on my face and I did have a pretty darn good day.

- christina

Art PBL

This spring, I worked with 2 art teachers to implement a problem-based learning unit (PBL) with 4^th and 5^th grade students.  That’s what I do – coach teachers through the PBL process.  It’s a great job and a frustrating job.  I imagine that phrase can describe any job in public education right now.  For this PBL unit, the art teachers worked with students to deconstruct the creative process.  They started by reading and discussing the book What Do You Do With An Idea by Kobi Yamada.

Each student was asked to create a piece of art that represented him or her.  They began by creating a mindmap.

They selected one node of the mindmap on which to focus their work.  Using any type of material available, each student developed a piece of art. Halfway through the process, adult art experts were brought in to give students feedback on the art and the process.

The focus of the lesson was the process of taking an original idea all the way to a completed work of art.  That’s one of the things that made this art unit different from the way the teachers usually taught art.  Another difference was that the students could create anything they wanted.  They were not being directed to explore shading by drawing circles on paper or to create an animal sculpture using plaster of paris.   They were given freedom to express themselves in any manner through any medium.

At the end of the unit the students wrote artist statements and had an art show.  Here are examples of their work.

Interactive art
The artist wanted the viewer to see both sides
of the beautiful shells

The flower in the photo above was one of my favorite pieces because I had a chance to talk to the young artist.  Her flower represents her love of playing the piano.  It blooms just like she blooms when she plays.  The colors of the flower petals represent the colors of her piano books as she has progressed through the levels.  This piece is so much more than a flower.

I was so proud of the students.   The art teachers also learned something - the benefit of occasionally adding student choice to their lessons.

Proud elementary art teachers

- christina